Leather belting



Jan. 23, 1923. 1,443,310

M, H. COOK. LEATHER BELTzNe. FILED Nov. 11 1918.

' INVENTOR Milton H $00k ATTORNEYS little strength in the grain or the smooth rams its. 192s...

1,443,.Eiltl harem MFIQE.

MILTON n. coon, or SAN rnanorsco, CALIFORNIA, ASSIGNOR TO n. a. COOK BEL'IING 00., or sanraencrsoo, canrronnrn, A oonronarronor CALIFORNIA;

LEATHER BELTING.

3 Application filed November 11, 1918. Serial No. 261,994.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, MILroN H. Coon, a citizen of the United States, residing at the city and county of San Francisco and State of California,have invented new and useful Improvements inLeather Belting, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to an improvement in leather belting and a process for producing same.

It is a well known fact that there is very side of hide and that the greatest strength is in the flesh "or fibrous portion. This has been demonstrated by the fact that leather from which the outer cuticle has been 'scrapedhas provento be as serviceableand reliable as before the bufling and scraping operation took place, that is, when the leather has been tanned without theremoval of the cuticle." As this process of tanning" requires several months for the liquor tanning agent to penetrate the grain and to thoroughly saturate the fibers of the hide, this process is objectionable. I have found, however, that portions of the leather from which the grain has been removed during". the process of tannlng are much stronger than portions of the leather from which they grain has been removed after tanning, the reason for this being that the hides from which the grain has been removed during the process of tanning become open and porous, allowing the-tanning liquor to penetrate the fibers before the animal matter of the hide decomposes. It will be readilyunderstood that the less decomposition which takesplace during the tanning operation the stronger the hide will be, and, therefore, it is desirable'to quickly complete the tanning of the hide audit is therefore preferable to remove the grain prior to tanning.

Leather products made by this process are used vby Ina-nufacturers for automobile up holstery and other uses which do not require a strong, expensive leather, and yet an examinatio'noi this leather stock has proven that these so-called splits are very strong- The leather previously referred to is prepared by butting or scraping the outer cuticle away, while .in my process I remove this cuticle. completely by splitting the leather at a point just below the outer cuticle and thus expose the fiber to the tanning soluq tion upon both sides of the split.

I find that these splits make an excellent belt, and, although less than half the thickness of ordinary leather,are much stronger and for this reason I am able to build up a belt of different plies which possesses greater strength and more elasticity than the ordinary belt of the same weight. Furthermore, a belt of, this description being thinner is more pliable and is less subject to centrifugal. force which has a tendency to throw the belt away from thevpulley, thereby decreasing the arc of contact and also i adding an unnecessary weight or strain on the bearings. As the belt producedby my method has a greater amount of elasticity, a moreeflicient power transmission will be obtained. f I

It is the principal object of the present invention to providea leather belt for power transmission purposes having increased tensile strength and elasticity, at the same time reducing the weightof bulk of the product andthereby obtaining a belt from which a more efiicient transmission of power will be derived than is commonly obtained from the ordinary belt. Incidentally,'the present invention will enable the manufacturer of leather belting to utilize splits of leather which are of indifferent commercial value at the present moment and will release large (uantities of heavy leather required by the xovernment in the prosecution ofthe pres out war, at the same time making it pos-- sible for the belting manufacturer to produce a. stronger and cheaper belt. than he has been able to produce hitherto. I

It is another object of the present invention to provide a belt having a renewable surface of leather which may be scraped off when it becomes worn or burnt and may be replaced by other thicknesses of similar leather stock when desired. the various plies o'lithe belt being: held together by suitable cement.

Other. objects will hereinafter appear.

The invention is illustrated by way of example in the accompanying drawings, in, which' 7 l? in. 1 is a fragmentary view in perspective illustrating a section of belt made accordingto the spirit of the present invention. Fig. 2 is a view in diagram disclosing a complete belt mountedupon the pulleys.

Fig. 3 is a sectional view indicating diagrammatically the manner in which a hide of a hide, as shown in Fig. 3. r

The hideasxsplit to term the portion B represents substantially the entire fibrous portion of the hide With the cuticle removed, the cut havi-ng'beenmade at a point directly beneath the-thicknesseit the cuticle. splittingoperation is performed during tanning so-"t hat the body oi the leather Willbe more advantageously exposed to the .tanning liquor,'thus insuring a more rapid and thorough tanning action. This is in contra dis tinction to the ordinary method in which the "fibrous material is split thusdecreasing its strength by half and thereby weakening any belt made therefrom irrespective of the manner in which"the'grain of thehide is arranged in the various plies oil the belt.

Prior to obtaining this "portion of the 'leatherthe' hide is scoured and stretched on ifrzin1esriaady to -be c'ut'into strips. After eliminating the bellies shoulders and. the

. other Weaker portions 01? the hide, the leather is out intestripsin the same manner generally *l ollowed by ni'anuita'cturers of belting. The

' strips are cemented together in acontinuous the second ply being cemented to v ttorni thefirst'plyfin such a me'thod as to break the j'oints a nd "soon tvith each consecutive ply. Theyfinisl'i'edbeltis then run. through a "vatto perform the stuffing operation.

Itvvill be possible by this method to'make up the belting into wvideWidths 'and tocut them ait'erwards nito smaller sizes because The after completing the tanning oi the uniformity of the material used, mak ing it unnecessary to skillfully grade and match the leather because with the use of the material specified the thickness Will be practically uniform. I

A'lterthebelt 'hasbeen used'its Wearing face may be scraped or removed and another ply oi leather substituted therefor by the simple operation of cementing the same in position.

Having thus described my invention, What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Pat cut is:

1. A method of preparing'leather-belting, which comprises the steps of partially-tan ni-ng a hide, splitting the hide at a point just beneaththe thickness of the cuticle, to expose both faces of the fibrous portion of the partially tanned hide,-tl1en cutting the leather into strips and thereafter cementing the strips together With their joints broken to term a laminated continuous belting,tl1en subjecting the belting to a-stutling operation.

' 2. A method of making belting which comprises the steps of partiallyta-nning a hide,

splitting the partially tanned hide to remove the outer cuticle to obtain substantially the entire fibrous'portion of the partially-tanned hide and expose both i'aces ot' the same thereoperation, then-cutting theleather into strips and cementing the strips together with their joints brokento 'lorm a lainin'ated-continuousbelt. then sul'r ectrng the belting to a: stulling operatien.

lnztestnnonywhereof I have hereunto set my hand in the presence of tWO subscribing wvitnesses.

"Munro's fn. cook.

Witnesses:

- CHARLES lV. EDGCUMBE,

J. S. FnANcIsco. 

